Structure of the atmosphere

The atmosphere is normally composed of 79 percent nitrogen, 20 percent oxygen and one percent as a mixture of carbon dioxide, water vapour and trace amounts of several other gases such as neon, helium, methane, krypton, hydrogen and xenon. The general structure of the atmosphere has several important features that have relevance to environmental problems. The atmosphere is divided into several layers. The innermost layer the troposphere extends 17 kilometers above sea level at the equator and about 8 kilometers over the poles. It contains about 75 percent of the mass of the earth’s air. The fragility of this layer is obvious from the fact that if the earth were an apple this particular layer would be no thicker than an apple’s skin.

Temperature declines with altitude in the troposphere. At the top of the troposphere temperatures abruptly begin to rise. This boundary where this temperature reversal occurs is called